Submission to the Health and Community Services Committee Inquiry into Sexually Explicit Outdoor Advertising

Click to read submission (PDF)

Collective Shout recommends the following: 

1. Responsibility for regulation should be given to an independent body or authority, with power to establish a system of pre-vetting billboards before their placement. An independent review system should replace industry self regulation as a way to assess the suitability of outdoor advertising. 
2. The onus of regulation must be clearly placed on broadcasters, publishers, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers to take account of community standards and concerns, as opposed to reliance upon the community to express their concerns in reaction to advertisements.
3. Any code of ethics by which Queensland advertisers are required to abide should reflect the growing body of research in regard to the sexualisation of children and objectification of women. Objectification and sexualisation of women and girls should be considered to constitute sexual harassment and discrimination, and treated as threats to the health, well-being and status of women and girls. 
4. Any code of ethics by which Queensland advertisers are required to abide should clearly reflect the fact that unsolicited and unwanted exposure to sexualised and pornified images is a form of sexual harassment. 
5. Any regulatory body (either existing or new) be required to consult the international research along with child and youth development experts, to ascertain the possible impact of advertising with sexualised content or messaging on this audience. 
6. Clear rules should be set out governing the placement of outdoor advertising, and limitations imposed in respect of where outdoor advertising can be placed.